A Dark Game
by Izcariot
Summary: Welcome to The Game, the rules are simple. The top 3 go into the next round. The Winner of the round gets to choose the venue of the next. Win 3 rounds and you get to live. How do you win? 13 people go in and only 3 come out. Do the math. Pokegirls AU.


Prologue: Players and Games

XXXXX

BRRRING, BRRRING, BRRRING.

Seth pried open his eyes and took in what little of his surroundings he could make out. The room was stuffy with the smell of dirty laundry but was nothing compared with the smells he had been subjected to. Seth rolled over and hid his face in the sweat stained pillow. He sucked in a deep breath of old sweat and rolled his shoulders against the soft linens. The morning light was barely infiltrating the room from the window painting the floor with diagonal stripes.

BRRRING, BRRRING, BRRRING.

He threw off the covers; the ringing was too much for him to bask in the comfort. A yawn escaped and he managed to find the source, a phone rattling a desk across the room. He put his feet on the carpet and caught some of the strands in his feet. Scooping the phone off the desk, he tapped at the blank screen, turning and rotating the device as it continued to scream at him.

BRRRING, BRRRING, BRRRING.

His last phone had been a flip phone but this one was a more complicated touch screen and the button to turn off the alarm wasn't as apparent. After some trial and error the ringing finally stopped and Seth took in his surroundings.

There was a bed in the corner and a massive TV across from it. He was standing next to a computer desk and the door was in the final corner. This wasn't the room he remembered at all but then again a lot could happen in four years. The phone said that it was a Monday so that meant that he had school. He was in middle school four years ago so at the most he was a junior. He sighed, so much for a high school education. Across the hall a shower stopped. Seth smiled, a bath would be nice. That was something he didn't get a lot of and a bath was more of a luxury in the late thirteenth century.

A set of heavy footsteps stomped down the hall. Seth waited a moment for the steps to trample around the house before he moved. There was a dresser in the open closet, Seth rummaged through it and found enough for a full set of clothes. Checking the hallway he stepped out and scanned up and down again. There were several doors and Seth tried them all. Two bedrooms and then finally he found the bathroom. Just as he threw off his shirt and swallowed bad morning breath, a familiar sound followed.

BRRRING, BRRRING, BRRRING.

Seth groaned.

XXX

Seth wiped the last of the water off his head and took a seat on his bed. The alarm had stopped screaming at some point during his shower and he was alone in the house. The family dogs were still running around the house so he wasn't intruding on anyone. The pack of animals eyed him wearily from the living room then dropped their heads back to the sofa.

Thoughts about the game were still running in his head. He had three months to find people and given his age the best resource was likely school. But before he could start picking people out he had to get his own house in order. This brought his gaze down to the rolls of fat pooling at his stomach. There was a pressure on the back of his throat that he hadn't felt for years and everything just felt heavier. He was in pathetic shape compared to The Game.

He needed to fix that first and foremost.

Despite his shower, he changed into some more comfortable clothing and went out for a run.

XXX

Seth walked back into his yard as the winter sun was going down at an exceptionally early hour. It had felt so warm outside though, he sighed. Fucking weather. While he hadn't spent the entire day running, he had gotten lost and ended up alternating between running and walking. The entire time he had been mumbling to himself in English, trying to get his brain back into English mode. The briefing last night had enlightened him but it was still a shock that his mother tongue was actually difficult to pronounce and he had to will himself to use it.

Honestly, he felt like shit mentally and physically.

He wasn't going to be running marathons any time soon either and he kept coughing up this phlegmy shit the entire time. He could barely do a pull up and he had to stop at a pathetically low amount of push-ups. He had a lot of work to do.

Well, here he was in front of the strange house he had started from but at least his Father's car was parked outside along with the other cacophony of colors that represented the full parking lot. A bright yellow SUV, a dark grey, lighter grey and red cars, a white truck and finally a smaller red truck. He strolled up trying to fight off the encroaching soreness. His Father: a greying, skinnier version of him; was leaning over a small coupe and messing with the engine.

Seth studied his Father for a few moments casually waiting for him to finally notice him. Looking at his father he actually couldn't muster any emotional response, it was strange. His parents had barely crossed his mind while he was away. Perhaps, it was because they were so distant in the first place.

Perhaps he was psychotic.

Oh well, seeing as how his father was too busy yanking on a part he decided to say the first thing he had told his father after a four year absence: "Hi."

He still had that part of English down.

Ray Westland stopped trying to dislodge the turbo off of his car and turned to face his Son. He put on his parenting face and got the difficult stuff out of the way first, "You skipped school."

His Son shrugged, "sleep."

Ray leaned back against the car and shook his head, "You're always tired. You can't keep skipping school to sleep in."

His Son just shrugged again, he didn't even care. That popped a vein so Ray stepped it up, "You keep fucking off like this and you're never going to anything. You can't just keep blowing off school for no fucking reason. Get your head out of your ass!"

Ray stopped himself; this wasn't supposed to escalate into this. His son just never seemed to give a fuck about anything. And it was about time for him to go into college and be an adult and he didn't know if he'd make it. Ray stopped himself from mentally criticizing his Son any more than he had too.

"Were you running?" he asked.

His Son nodded and then stretched his calf with the same non-committal look. Ray perked up at that revelation, "Why didn't you tell me? I'd've gone with you."

He'd been trying to get his son to join him for about four years. He thought the first marathon he ran would motive his son but it didn't materialize: he just kept playing video games in his room.

Ray crossed his arms and smiled with a little more bravado. "How far'd you run", he asked with a grin.

Seth shrugged again, "not sure. Shower."

Ray's smile fell as he watched his son just walk off. Seth had never been very social but this was actually a new level of hostility between them. Ray shrugged it off, he needed a lecture every once and a while anyway.

XXX

Seth groaned. He had barely caught most of what his father just yelled but he got the message. Perhaps he just needed to concentrate on using the right language. After all, he was able to juggle Mongolian and Persian back to back for a year, speaking one language at a time should be easy.

Clang. Grunting.

He stopped as he got near the bathroom. Dull screaming that seemed far away echoed from around the corner. Seth stopped his first path and followed after the sound. It was coming from a bedroom, Seth walked up to the edge of the door and watched the TV screen flash through a large battle scene.

It looked straight out of a Hellenic era fight with the bronze Greek style helmets and the ornate armor. Brad Pitt took the screen; he was in armor fighting with a group of hoplites.

Seth watched it for a moment in perfect silence.

He headed for the shower.

XXX

The next morning Seth walked outside into the cool spring morning and was caught between a red Honda civic and giant White truck. Since no one else was home he assumed that the civic was his because the truck was originally his Dads.

Seth took a seat in the driver's side and jerked the key. The car jumped to life and started trying to hop its way forward. He slammed on the brakes and shut the car off. It was only then that he noticed that the gear select was actually a gear shifter.

Seth groaned loudly, he couldn't even begin to divine how to drive a manual. He glanced back at the white truck.

XXX

Seth stumbled into the school after an excruciating experience of trying to squeeze a massive white Chevy between two other massive trucks. It was dumb luck that he knew where the high school even was. His memory wasn't the best but the (American) football team was the centerpiece of the town social life. It had taken him five minutes to try and get the truck to line up correctly before he was confident enough to pull into the spot.

Now that he was actually in front of the main building he was stuck. He had a vague idea about his schedule, the numbers still made sense and he spent most the night deciphering the English on his syllabi to get an idea of his schedule. Somehow none of the papers mentioned where his classes where. Plenty of names, yes; but little in terms of where on a map they were. Sighing for the fifth time that morning he pulled his heavy book bag up on his shoulders and entered. The front desk was manned by a plump fat woman whose perfume he could smell from the door. He tapped on the desk and waited for her to look up.

She glanced up at him and said something that he couldn't quite pick up then went back to scrounging on her desk. His ears weren't prepared for the onslaught of English, a language he was only getting a little at a time. Seth floundered for a moment under her hard glare before he finally organized his thoughts into passable English.

"HI. I'm having a bit of a problem," was what he meant to say but it came out in Mandarin.

The women stared at him with a blank expression but then exploded, "Whatsa matta with you boi! Don't play with me!"

Seth put his hand over his face when he realized his mistake, "I, uh, have a, problem."

"Yeah ya can't talk straight," the woman scorned.

Seth took a deep breath, the chances of finding someone who spoke passable Mandarin in rural America was about as likely as drowning in the Gobi. Seth managed a small smile, it was understandable being… on edge when someone walked up to you and started to rattle of in, what would appear to be gibberish, but to be so rude? "I… need a… Schedule."

The woman continued to stare at him like he was stupid, "Da hell you need one of 'dose." She snapped. "Get da class!"

Seth kept smiling. He felt vaguely happy that he had even got this far. Remembering your mother tongue was harder than you'd think. He stopped for a moment to think; just screaming at her wouldn't work. He turned back to the woman, who was still scowling, "I need it… for a … I lost mine."

The woman, still holding a grudge, looked at him in disgust. She simply jerked her thumb behind her, "That's the other desk for that."

"Thank you," and then Seth stalked off.

The other desk was further back in the building and staffed another plump black lady.

"Hi. I need a copy of my schedule for college," came out much easier when he only had to repeat it.

The woman, not as biased by a round of supposed gibberish, was just as dismissive, "Write your name. We'll have it ready in a couple of days."

She put a post-it note on the lip of the desk without even looking up. Seth glanced down at the piece of paper and scribbled his name. It was a little rough for the Latin alphabet but legible. He passed it down to her, "now please?"

The woman finally regarded him, "Paperwork takes at least one day to process."

Seth rubbed the back of his head and tried to look pathetic, "Please."

The woman stared at him blankly, "It's gonna take two days."

"It'll take little time."

"It's gonna take three days."

Seth frowned.

"Wanna try for four?" the woman threatened, the same bored expression on her face.

Seth gave her a small polite bow and walked off.

XXX

Seth took a seat on one of the benches that dotted the high school campus. He had no idea where he needed to go and had no idea what his current class was. With a deflated sigh, he leaned back to stare at the sky.

"Excuse me young man!"

Seth looked over to a short balding white guy with an obvious beer belly. He was wearing a much too tight dress shirt and khakis with his finger pointed at Seth. Not unlike an owner deriding his dog. Seth sighed, "Yes?"

"You need to get to class, son," the balding man said. He stopped just short of the bench to tower over Seth, probably the only moment he could ever do that.

"Don't know where," Seth said, defeat on his voice. Third times the charm?

The man's eyebrow furrowed thinking he was being put on, "Are they in the library?"

Seth sat up, "Maybe."

"I don't like your tone young man," the man said, his modicum of power coloring his voice.

Seth bowed his head slightly, "Apologies. Don't want to anger."

Obviously put off by this display of submissiveness the man unclipped a walkie-talkie off his belt, "What's your teacher's name?"

Seth gave him his most sorry/exasperated look he could muster, "De Wit."

He started talking into the black box and then pointed out the building and where the class might be. Seth gave him his best thanks and then walked off to start his first real day of high school.

XXX

Seth sat down at the table and took a deep breath, school food hadn't changed. It was still vaguely edible but it was a vast improvement from what he had been eating before. Still, food was food and he wasn't going to complain when it was paid for. Seth glanced over at the people down the table. He recognized several people who had acted like his friends and talked to him about things he didn't understand. It was only luck that most of them had heckled him about sitting somewhere else. It was taking a lot to fake the social order. He ripped open the plastic utensils and scooped up some white stuff. He was hesitant to call it mashed potatoes.

He was silent as he watched the people around him begin to fill in. He didn't recognize any of them from his middle school. It was weird but apparently high school was like that, he wasn't that concerned. He'd only be here for a few weeks any way. A boy sat down next to him and started rummaging through his lunchbox for food. Seth glanced at him but didn't say anything. Suddenly the kid looked at him, "You sure you wanna sit there?"

Seth was sitting on the edge of the table. It would be easier for him get out from the lunch table this way and into the aisle. Seth narrowed his eyes, "Why?"

"You know. Cause she's gonna do that thing."

Seth put down his fork and his foot started twitching, "What thing?"

The guy faked a laugh, "She's been telling all her friends that she's going get revenge. I told you last week, remember?"

Seth shook his head, "No."

"Eh, it's not important," Now the guy shook his head. He scooped out some of his food only to stuff it back into the box when he looked behind him, "I gotta go. Watch out."

As the guy bugged out with his food Seth followed his line of vision. Memories flashed before him, running together in a field playing tag. Nightfall. Awkward fumbling and giggling. An inexperienced kiss. Seth focused back on the present. Puberty had done right by her. In middle school she was awkward but not now and those curves. Seth smiled. She was beautiful and she was familiar. She walked up in front of him and smiled back, "Hey."

She had the same brown eyes not even puberty could change that, Seth fidgeted with his fork, "Hey… Skylar."

"So I want to talk to you about…" It was so awkward for him after four years. She was so cute and Seth, he glanced down at his shirt. He wasn't exactly Adonis and she looked great! He met her eyes and nodded to whatever she was saying. He should focus, focus. Wow, you couldn't even tell she used to have acne. Seth glanced to his right so as to avoid her gaze again. A blonde girl was walking towards them but she was staring so intently. His instincts screamed at him, danger. Something was wrong. The blonde locked eyes with him and panic hit her expression. She burst into a run.

Seth returned his gaze to Skylar, if she wanted to talk why was she holding her plate and not sitting in the empty seat across from him. The guys warning finally made sense. The blonde slammed into her and instead of the plate following the logical direction, it was flying towards his face.

Seth had enough sense to cringe as the concoction hit him. Mashed potatoes, open strawberry milk carton, open fruit cup, gravy covered meat. He could picture them standing over the food tray as they laughed and giggled about their scheme. The recyclable food tray landed in his own as Seth watched the blonde run off behind him. The mashed potatoes had a new gash in them where the Styrofoam was still dripping pink chunks.

His gravy covered fingers curled around the fork and his wiped the gunk off his face. His shirt was ruined by the greasy, sticky, food and it looked like he had chunky period all over his shirt. Seth looked up at Skylar as she started backing away and stammering.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean too. My friend just pushed me…" She had always liked theatre. She backed away pawing at her mouth in a gasp. She was always a good actor and that was the best she could do? Was she fucking with him? His breathing became more ragged. She was fucking with him even more? Oddly, it wasn't that he was drenched in an unholy concoction of food or that someone he actually wanted to see had thrown said food. Apparently, it had been revenge for something so he might even deserve it.

But this fake shit was just insulting!

Seth took a deep breath and watched the rest of the cafeteria start to react. A table across from him were starting to gape and point. Seth smiled and clutched his fork harder. He took a step forward and apparently his smile was working because Skylar kept over acting and wasn't trying to escape. Seth twirled the fork in his hand until the prongs were down. He was dragging her by the collar before her faked expression had time to change to fear. Seth jammed the fork into her carotid and added a layer of blood to the strawberry milk. A serene smile spread across his face as those beautiful brown eyes exploded in agony.

Now that was acting! With the fork sufficiently stuck in her neck he pulled back and delivered a throat strike for extra insurance. 1 out of 10! He pulled back and delivered another right hook into her face. Worst performance of the century! The bone broke under his palm. He pulled back again and struck on the end of the fork. The plastic went through her neck and Skylar went limp. He dropped her body on the ground. She was still alive but god willing she wouldn't be much longer. He stomped on her throat just to insure it was crushed and then looked over the gathered group of shocked spectators. No one was moving but Seth had to move quickly. It wasn't every day that twenty-first American high school students experienced real death.

The blonde couldn't have escaped far. Seth ignored the gaping masses and turned to chase the direction the blond had ran off to. There was a door that was at the far end of the hall way, maybe she had gone there but Seth was going to hedge his bets on the ladies sign to his left. He kicked open the bathroom door. An unfortunate brunette took the door to her face. She was on the dirty floor clutching at the fountain of blood flowing out of her nose. Seth stepped over her and scanned the cramped room. At the far end was the blonde. She was staring at the mirror pure shock etched on her face. Perhaps it was from simply seeing a man in the ladies room.

Perhaps it was the streak of red across his face and the all the food over him.

Seth gave her his best slasher smile. It was enough to keep her frozen, but Seth made sure not to run towards her. No, he kept his cool, calmly striding forward even as the screaming outside reached a crescendo. The blonde didn't even react until his hand was on her neck.

Her lips quivered, "I, I-"

Her face slammed into the glass mirror and stopped her sentence. Seth then dragged her shocked body over to the sink and put her head through it. The ceramic collapsed easily under the strain. Seth kicked her in the ribs and picked up a nice large shard of glass from the mirror.

One stab to the kidneys to induce shock; the blonde went rigid. Seth picked her head up and stuck the shard in making sure to draw all the way across her neck. She gagged appreciatively before Seth made the actual kill, a straight stab down into the veins that hovered near the surface. The shard of glass simply didn't allow him enough of a grip so it took a few more stabs but he eventually got her neck sufficiently open.

It's never as easy as it looks in the movies.

Seth got off the corpse and turned to walk out of the bathroom. A cop was standing there with his gun drawn. No, wait. That was a Taser.

PAIN!

Seth locked up and fell back, floundering on the dirty floor as the electrical current ran through him.

XXX

His fingers curled around the fork and his wiped the gunk off his face. His shirt was ruined by the gunk all over him and it looked like he had chunky period all over his crotch. Seth looked up at Skylar as she started backing away and stammering.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean too. My friend just pushed me…"

Seth relaxed his grip on his fork and sighed. He smiled up at Skylar even as her forearm glowed for just a flash of a second. "That's fine. Accidents happen."

XXX

Skylar Fitzker's hands immediately came up to clutch at her throat. She started hyperventilating. Wasn't she dead? Hadn't, hadn't Seth killed her? God. Seth killed her! She started feeling her neck more closely. Oh god! There it was, a little scar where the fork had punctured her throat!

Skylar huddled into herself and started rocking. He had actually killed her! She kept rocking for several seconds simply staring at the cheap grey carpet. Wait.

Where was she?

Skylar looked up and found she was in a dim grey closet. No wait. It was a changing room. Skylar backed up against the wall and stood up. The grey carpet was only a little darker then the grey fuzzy walls. To her left was a full length mirror. Skylar examined her neck again, the scar was pink like the final bit of scab had fallen off.

Where was she?

She twisted around, hanging in front of her was a simple but elegant black dress. It was conservatively cut not showing off any cleavage, it even had long sleeves. It was tight though and would show of any woman's curves. Skylar rubbed at the material, it was silk.

Under the dress was a metal bench with two items on it: a box and a paper wrapped package. Skylar opened the box first. A pair of black pumps were inside. They looked expensive too. Skylar unwrapped the package and held up a very risqué thong.

"My god."

Skylar glanced up at the ceiling, the only thing up there was the light source. She twisted in a full circle; there was no door, only four grey walls. She pushed on it and it didn't even budge.

"Hello!"

No one answered. Skylar glanced up at the dress.

XXX

It had been a couple of days since the lunch incident. Not even a high school could filter through something like a public food dumping. However, some people didn't know who he was or his face. Someone had even asked if he knew the guy it happened too without an ounce of sarcasm. The school had punished neither him nor Skylar. After all it's not like he had killed anyone or anything. Seth had been called into the office and asked to explain but he honestly had no clue about why Skylar had thrown food on him.

He couldn't actually talk to Skylar either. Every time he tried she'd shove the same bullshit story down his throat about an accident. So Seth just dropped it. Honestly, he didn't even care. He had bigger things to worry about, like how was he going to get back into shape. Back in The Game he had been training with a sword in real combat across the breadth of Asia since he was thirteen. It had a way of keeping you in shape. Apparently, whatever 'had been living his life,' as The Last Champion had put it, didn't exercise that much; Seth was rectifying that but school kept getting in the way.

He'd stop coming if he could but his Dad was being a hard ass about his attendance. Oh well, he still had to find eight more people. Hence, he was sitting in a classroom waiting for English to start.

"Hey."

Seth looked up from his book bag at the voice. He was darker skinned but didn't look Hispanic maybe Mediterranean? He was in good shape and the way he moved gave off the impression of a martial artist. Of course, that might explain the cocky way he was hanging over Seth's desk.

Seth felt a bit put off by his posture, "Yes?"

"Did you spread some rumors about someone recently?"

The principal had asked him something like that in his office. Seth rolled his eyes, "are you talking about a chick?"

The guy smiled but kept posturing and flexing his arm. Seth sighed when the guy nodded, "yeah. Are you Seth?"

Seth leaned back and put his bag on the floor, "I am. How can I help you?"

He made sure to smile up at the prick. The guy smiled back, "I have this cousin and she was talking about you."

Seth pinched the bridge of his nose, "and we have number three." He looked the prick in the eyes then spoke loudly and clearly, "Just so we're clear. You are threatening me right?"

They had been quiet up to now and not drawn any undue attention. Now the few students were actually staring intently at the pair of them. The teacher wasn't even in the room yet, only a token batch of students preparing to gawk at a fight. The prick stopped leaning on his desk and stood up, "Yeah, I-"

He bent over in pain as Seth pulled the desk out his nut sack. Posturing moron. As the guy stumbled back clutching at his balls Seth took the chance to stand up. The guy readied himself, "no f-"

Seth threw his desk at him. The prick knocked the desk away but didn't see the chair that Seth was now wielding. He crumpled as soon as the chair leg hit him in the back of the head. On the floor and curled into a ball, he kept his head protected but his brittle bones could stop the metal bars of the chair. Seth kept beating the kid with the chair until pieces of plastic were flying off in random directions.

A girl screamed.

Seth readied his chair for another blow and then started beating the kid in the back of the head. Eventually the plastic completely disintegrated and only the metal stand was left. Seth made sure to focus on the back of the skull, where it connected to the spine. From behind, a chair hit Seth in the back of the head. He bent with the blow and scrambling to get distance. One of the pricks friends had his own chair and was stalking towards him. Seth scrambled to his feet and leaned against the wall.

XXX

Seth looked up from his book bag at the voice. He was darker skinned but didn't look Hispanic maybe Mediterranean? He was in good shape and the way he moved gave off the impression of a martial artist. Of course that might explain the cocky way he was hanging over Seth's desk.

Seth felt a bit put off by his posture, "Yes?"

"Did you spread some rumors about someone recently?"

Seth tapped his chin and rolled his shoulders, "Are you really going to get us both expelled over something so stupid?"

The guy suddenly stopped posturing and leaned back with a thinking look.

Seth began measuring his breathing and unfocused his vision so that his peripherals would react quicker. Sensing something very different about him, the Prick suddenly stood up and backed away from the desk. Seth smirked. "Why don't we let this drop friend?"

The prick swallowed, "yeah."

He squinted at him while Seth examined the small glow that flashed for a moment on the guys forearm. He walked off. Seth watched him go but then turned back to his bag. It's nice to solve things diplomatically.

XXX

It had been a month since Seth had returned from The Game. He had settled into a nice routine, he'd get home and then exercise until it was pitch dark again. He did a lot of things, running and body weight exercises chief among them. He didn't want to ruin his muscle memory with weights. The most annoying thing was how many tree branches he was going through. In absence of a sword, he was using tree branches to smack a wooden post in his back yard.

He kept breaking the damn things. Then he got the idea to band thinner ones together so that the force was distributed among several. It evened the load. So he could reliably smack a log in his backyard to emulate sword movements. It was what he was reduced to when he had no sparring partner.

It was frustrating.

Seth shook his head and started paying attention again. He was currently in history class and drowning out his teacher as the man tried to explain the Mongolian empire to him. Seth glanced over at the upstretched hand of the teacher's pet. She was usually a mousy girl but for the last week she been wearing a Harvard sweater with pride. As she gloated to anyone that didn't escape fast enough, she had applied and was just waiting the acceptance letter. And why shouldn't she be accepted, she had already attempted to correct the teacher twice and been right both times.

Now if only she would take her victory and shut the fuck up.

The teacher suppressed a sigh and pointed to her, "Yes Autumn?"

"Actually, sir…"

Oh that was it.

Seth stood up and put his hand on the switchblade he had taken to carrying in his pocket. The girl next to him straightened when he shuffled past her. No one in the room paid him any mind until he stopped at the end of Autumn's row instead of continuing on to the restroom. The girl at the end of the row did notice but numbly scooted forward when Seth nudged her. Her eyes were barely open and her instincts were running her body. Autumn didn't stop her tirade until he was directly over her. She stopped talking and looked up at with an indignant clueless expression.

"Mr. Westland what are y-" the teacher started to scold him.

Seth pulled the knife out his pocket and flicked it open. The snap of metal against metal made the teacher shut up. He stared over the metal at the older man then turned back to Autumn. Seth put his hand on the back of her head and ran his fingers through her light brown hair.

"Five points to Gryffindor." Seth's knife cut through the eyeball easily enough and met minimal resistance when it finally found brain. An ear piercing scream erupted out of her mouth as Seth kept wedging the blade further and further. Autumn's screaming didn't stop until Seth started wedging the handle off the edges of her eye socket. Her last scream came out as a whimper and her jaw slackened until she was left drooling. Her screaming was picked up by the other girls. Seth pulled the knife out and flicked a chunk of brain matter at an aghast expression in the front row.

The glob of flesh hit a poor girl in the face.

Seth turned back down the aisle and cleaned the blade on the bony shoulder of the girl that sat next to Autumn. It didn't quite clean it though. By now, one of the more respondent students were running towards the door to alert the authorities. The Teacher was catatonic, still gripping his podium even as the room devolved into chaos. Seth shook his head; no one knew how to react to a crisis in this school.

XXX

He was currently in history class and drowning out his teacher as the man tried to explain the Mongolian empire to him. Seth glanced over at the upstretched hand of the teacher's pet. She was usually a mousy girl but for the last week she been wearing a Harvard sweater with pride. As she gloated to anyone didn't escape fast enough, she had applied and was just waiting the acceptance letter. And why shouldn't she be accepted, she had already attempted to correct the teacher twice and been right both times.

Now if only she would take her victory and shut up.

The teacher suppressed a sigh and pointed to her, "Yes Autumn?"

"Actually, sir…"

Seth watched the faint glow on her forearm and went back to staring at the various knick-knacks around the room.

XXX

"Do you think TV is desensitizing us to violence and gore?"

Seth rolled his eyes. That kind of question was typical of his brother. The Westland Brothers were running together in an odd display of familial bonds. Perhaps it was because Sean's, his brother, college application due date was approaching. Then again Sean had been keeping up with him for the last four miles and not showing signs of stopping. So maybe his brother was in shape after a mutually fat childhood.

"Why?" Seth asked, annoyance coloring his tone.

"Eh, no reason. Just thought I'd break the silence we've had going for the entire run. How far have we ran?" They started climbing a steep hill and leaving the small valley that the lake occupied. Neither of them showed signs of slowing on the grueling crimb. It was mid-November and both of them were wearing sweaters and wool caps to keep warm. Still wearing shorts but they were running so they didn't feel the cold as bad. The trees were already barren and the sky was permanently grey which made both of them cheery.

"I think like 5 miles."

"And how long are we running for?"

Seth glanced over at his brother, "till you stop."

His brother nodded appreciatively, "I was going to go till you stopped. I figured it be easier seeing as how you don't usually run."

"I've been running all month," Seth defended.

"Exactly, five miles is extraordinary for someone of your previous exercise level." Sean pulled ahead by bounding up the hill. Seth picked up his pace as well.

"Get to your point, you two faced bastard." Seth said pointedly.

Sean had always been the type to say one thing and mean the other. It was better just to demand an answer from him. When he was at his absolute worst he would trip over himself and yet still come out on top. Or make you believe that he came out on top. He was a bastard like that. Sean slowed at the top of the hill and Seth yoyo-ed back with him.

"No trick. Dad is worried about you. You wouldn't go on his marathon with him and then a couple of months later you start running like a mad man."

They didn't look at each other but kept running until they got to the bottom of yet another hill. Nicer houses, borderline mansions, started to filter past them.

"And the post beating and the shadow sword-play and that far off look in your eyes and…" Sean continued.

"I get it." Seth finally relented.

"We're worried _brah_. You better start faking it till you make it."

Seth pushed ahead of his brother as they turned the corner for the final stretch to their house, "It'll be over soon."

XXX

Seth had a month left before the game would begin. His deadline was Christmas night, December 25th. He was suffering through his families attempt at Thanksgiving but he would only have a couple of weeks before Christmas break and in that time he had to find six people for the game. Seth wanted to avoid picking strangers and letting the game decide was out of the question. The last thing he needed was a suicidal green beret to join his game.

That left school. So far he had picked mostly females and he had a vague idea of the arena he wanted. Something medieval but with an extra bit of misogyny; not that the middle ages weren't misogynistic enough. But he had chosen mostly females and he wanted an edge, a misogynistic society would only play in his favor.

Seth sighed as someone knocked on his door. "Come in."

Ray Westland opened the door and looked down at his son. Seth was sitting on the floor and leaning back against his bed. The two of them shared an awkward greeting. Ray immediately gravitated towards his desk chair.

"You get enough to eat?" he asked.

"Yep."

Ray glanced at the door. "We're worried about you. You've gotten a little more…distant."

Seth rolled his eyes, "Distant?"

Ray pulled an orange prescription bottle out of his pocket and tapped it on the desk. Seth glanced at the bottle but didn't say anything. "I'm fine. I don't need drugs."

Seth put his hand in his pocket and stared at his father. It would be easy but did he want to put up with his father in The Game? The two of them looked at each other for what felt like hours. Ray eventually stood up but didn't take his bottle with him, "right."

Seth stood up as soon as Ray had left. Seth didn't move, he gave the bottle one look and then glared at the door. His Father's footsteps faded.

His brother walked in right after. Immediately he drifted over to the pill bottle and read its label. Sean pocketed the bottle without before Seth could ask for it. "Fake it till you make it."

With that Sean left too. Seth sat up and walked over to his computer. Fake it huh? Seth sat down and started sorting through his computer files. Homework made up most of it and a lot of crappy mp3 downloads too. Nothing to suggest how Seth could be 'normal.' He clicked on the internet and started searching. What was this Seth like?

Most of his recent stuff was aimed at exercise links and how to get back in shape quickly. He had about 1500 years of more experience and science he wanted to take advantage of it. However, the more into the past browsing history he delved the more depressed he got. Perhaps The Game had saved him more then he gave it credit for. He clicked on the next link and his eyebrows shot up.

This looked promising. Seth searched the site, becoming more and more interested the more he read. After he had devoured the site for as much information as he could, he clicked on a similar link and dug through that information.

A sly grin split his face. This was almost exactly what he needed. Not medieval but misogynistic enough.

XXX

Seth trudged into the central courtyard of his high school and gravitated towards a group of people he had been hanging out with during school hours. He was still debating over whether or not he wanted to include any of them into The Game. He nudged himself into the circle of people huddled for whatever warmth they could get out of the cold mornings. One of the guys nudged him, "You see what Dennis is dating?"

Seth shook his head.

He nodded behind them to a pair of teens standing in the corner. The male had curly dark hair and a bushy goatee. The female was not attractive in the twenty-first century sense. Seth groaned. "Why does he do that to himself?"

"Maybe he likes fat chicks?" one of them offered.

"No. I've seen his porn collection, not a fat chick in sight." Another supplied.

"Confidence Issues?"

"Maybe she puts out."

They were all shivering and huddling for warmth in a circle; waiting for school to start. Seth glanced over to the warmth of the packed cafeteria, the only respite from the temperature. Too bad everyone else had that idea; the building was packed tighter than a sardine can.

"You know what his problem is?" one of them finally asked.

They all looked at him expectantly.

"He's a nice guy. It's all he can get."

Seth rolled his eyes. Why were they all obsessed with that thought? Perhaps it was because he didn't have a lot of interest in girls during middle school but that's all his friends would bark about. Nice guy this and nice guy that. Seth had never had much of a problem in The Game. Women found him oddly attractive when he carried a sword but didn't act like a typical warrior caste member. That is to say chivalric or at least aloof and not trying to abduct the pretty peasant girl. Dennis _was_ too nice he had no strength at all or at least he didn't show it in public. Dennis wasn't exactly an alpha male, he looked like one but his family had done horrible things to his confidence. Seth wrapped his hands around the switchblade in his pocket.

The ideas he had gleamed last night were cementing the world he planned to create for The Game. A guy like Dennis; it'd do him some good. Seth broke from the pack and strolled up to the pair against the wall.

"Hey."

The two finally separated from eating each other's faces. Seth suppressed a gag. People in this century had no public decency. Dennis actually looked embarrassed, "Yeah?"

Seth smiled and decked him. His girlfriend gasped but Seth shut her up by punching her in the face as well. She went down and Seth turned his attention back to Dennis. He ducked under Dennis' punch and delivered a blow to his ribs. Seth grinned as the distinctive crunch of broken ribs hit his ears.

Dennis leaned against the wall for support and Seth flicked his knife out. Eyes widened, Dennis scrambled to get his defenses back up. Seth aimed low and stabbed him in the stomach; with a little momentum Seth completely disemboweled him. Dennis bent low and tried to hold his intestines in. The familiar shit smell hit Seth and brought a smile to his face. It'd been a while since he had really smelled the blood and shit of real combat. Seth flipped the knife and delivered the coup de grace, a stab in the back of the head: right where the spine met the skull. Dennis' body collapsed.

"Stop!"

Seth looked up to see a shaky police officer holding a Taser. Seth made a blind leap of faith and the electric prongs hit the brick wall. They bounced off and lodged in Dennis' corpse forcing it to spasm with new life. Seth lunged forward and tackled the cop. He got a couple of elbow strikes to the back of the cop's head while they fought on the ground. As they fought, a crowd of concerned teachers and students started dragging Seth off.

XXX

Seth wrapped his hands around the switchblade in his pocket.

Seth broke from the pack and strolled over to the pair. He didn't say anything; just walked off towards another part of the campus. The two continued to clean each other's tonsils unmolested.

Five down, five to go.

XXX

Seth hefted the box of paper and made his way up the stairs of building one. He was being forced into the role of after-school errand boy for JROTC. It had only taken him two months to get into a wreck and have his car put into a shop. So now he was at the mercy of his brother's schedule until the car could be fixed.

Which left him as JROTC's after-school bitch and they had been pimping him out. Apparently, his father encouraged such behavior. At least Sean looked apologetic, knowing his brother, he was faking but it was better than his father and step-mother. Seth's current assignment was to bring a box of paper to the track team so they could finish a project. Seth stopped at the door second level and started to grab the handle when suddenly three cheery track stars walked out giggling amongst themselves.

Seth took a step back and let them pass as they giggled out multiple thank yous and once the door had closed again, insults at some gullible guy they had left with all the work. Seth watched them go and then gently opened the door without dropping his box of paper.

A desk flipped over and tumbled out of a classroom at the other end of the hall.

"Fucking bitches! Leave me with all the fucking work! Argh!" It was a shrill female screech.

Seth nodded appreciatively and tried to walk a little more quietly down the hall. The desk had tumbled out of the only classroom with a light on. The rest of the hallway was pitch black in the lack of afternoon light.

The girl continued to rant, "Oh you're so nice Jade. Helping out and being quiet. You won't mind doing all the fucking work while we go blow some _collage_ guys! It's college! You dumb yokel bitch! Cute little Jade won't mind it at all! Oh you're so _cute_ Jade. You're like a little doll. Dammit!"

She slammed the desk with a thump. Cute little Jade continued her tirade as Seth walked down the hall without interrupting her. It actually brought a smile to his face. He wanted to meet this girl. Jade screamed again and then calmed down. By the time Seth was standing over the desk and ready to look into the classroom, it was almost as if the screaming had never happened. Seth peeked in to find a small, thin redhead working at a table with her back to the door. She was _really_ short and skinny, the definition of a habitual runner. Too bad she was bundled up in a conservative skirt, it showed off her toned legs but completely kept her upper body hidden. He walked in and let the box of paper drop on the table. The cute little redhead nearly tripped over herself trying to spin around. In fact, she ended up making a little squeak and falling on the table.

"You scared me." She said it so timidly and meekly that Seth literally looked around the room looking for that Jade woman.

The girl folded her hands in front of her and fidgeted, "Is that for me?"

Seth glanced down at the box and smiled up at her. The little redhead leaned back with a worried expression on her face, "Why are you here?"

"Are you Jade?"

"Um, yes." She said it that same faint voice; so cute.

Seth's smile got even wider. Oh wow. No wonder she was so angry. She probably got kicked around all the time acting like that. He moved towards her with a predatory expression on his face. Jade backed into the table and stayed there frozen as Seth approached. She kept fumbling behind her for something but Seth didn't care. This little meek redhead was kind of interesting. She allowed Seth to get close to her before she struck out. Seth stopped in his tracks and looked down to see the small scissor handles sticking out of his chest.

He grunted in both pain and annoyance. But she manage to make him involuntarily stumbled a step back. Oh, now he had to kill her just to reverse that wound. But he had taken worse. Jade was grinning now. "Bet that hurts don't it you rapist asshole!"

Seth just laughed and pulled the scissors out. He spun them around a few times and sprayed small droplets of blood everywhere. A few actually hit her in the cheek. He'd taken _much_ worse. He licked at his lips still beaming psychotically. Jade's smile faded as quickly as it came. Seth chucked the scissors off into the corner of the room and pinned Jade against the table. She squirmed under him and kicked in vain but he wedged his legs between hers to pin them as wide open as he could. He leaned into her and whispered in her ears, "That little scissor trick might work on a human. Cute. Little. Jade. But not **me**."

She pushed him but he grabbed her hands and pinned them on the table. She was now pressed completely against him, the bundle of clothes on her torso prevented any meaningful perversion. Seth pressed her arms further in, pressing her chest into him. "Well, you made me bleed." He forced her legs further apart and planted his knee against her panties, "I'll just have to return the favor."

She was full on shaking now, "I'll scream!"

Seth laughed, "You screamed a lot louder than that before and all you summoned was **me**."

Jade rammed her head into his nose. Seth laughed again, spraying snot and blood all over her face, "That's good. Fight like that and maybe those bitches won't make you do all this work."

Seth leaned back and looked into Jade's light blue eyes. She was still shaking and fearful but now she was just a little curious. Seth smiled at her and stepped way, making sure that she could stand before letting go. With that Seth simply turned and started walking out of the room.

"Wait. That's it? You just try to rape me and then say bye?"

Seth laughed and turned back to her, the only reason he did it was to find out what she'd do. The scissor wound still hurt and his nose wasn't going to feel any better. "Would you like a deal Cute. Little. Jade?"

Jade growled a little at the continued diminutives. Seth just found it funny how she could talk aggressively in that same quiet meek tone. It was so… attractive. He waited for her to say something but that was all the response Seth was going to get. He took a step forward and smiled, "Do you want them dead. Cute. Little. Jade? Those bitches? Who are sucking off _collage_ guys?"

Jade glared at him but she was considering it. Seth pulled out his knife and flicked it open with a click, "Come on, Cute. Little. Jade. I was going to rape you. You think a little murder concerns me? Take the deal, Cute. Little. Jade. It'll be our little secret and they'll never push their work on you. Never call you Cute. Little. Jade."

Seth took a knee and bowed before, "Use me Jade. Let me help you. After all you summoned me."

Okay so maybe he was selling the deal with the devil bit a little hard. But it was kind of fun playing this out. Like being in an anime. Jade continued to battle with herself but when he bowed it had really sealed her mind. She'd 'use' him. She'd like having hot boy she could blackmail into _anything_ she might want. And if he actually did it? Then she could just report him to the cops and tell them about this little episode. Jade licked her lips, "Do it."

Seth smiled and stood up, "That's the spirit. There's just one thing. A. Tiny. Little. Price."

Jade's eyes widened, "What?"

Seth lunged forward and stuck the knife in Jade's stomach. The switchblade had no problem finding her diaphragm, Jade crumpled into Seth's waiting embrace. He leaned down and whispered in her ear as he withdrew the knife, "Life for life."

He spun her limp body around and bent her back over the blade. It found her kidney easily. Seth pulled the blade out and wrapped his arm around her. He coped a feel, Jade was already out of it shock claiming her. He pulled her blade out and slammed it down between her collarbones. Jade continued to hold on but when he stabbed again and sliced into her throat, she was done. Seth let her body collapse and the blade cut completely through her shoulder.

XXX

Seth peeked in to find a small, thin as a rail redhead working at a table with her back to the door. Seth walked in and let the box of paper drop on the table. The cute little redhead nearly tripped over herself trying to spin around. In fact she ended up making a little squeak and falling on the table.

"You scared me." She said it so timidly and meekly that Seth had to fight the urge to grin.

He simply turned around and walked out of the room, "Sorry."

He had to find those three chicks before they got too far away. He busted through the door and sprinted down the stairs outside. He glanced around, Jade had something about blowing some college guys. They'd come from off campus and probably leave. Seth started sprinting towards the front of the school.

Out front he started searching around for any sight of them. It was too early for clubs and sports to let out so not many people would be hanging around. He spotted the trio from earlier getting into a cramped hatchback.

Wow. What college douchebags drive a car that small and picks up high school chicks? In a twisted way, Seth was saving them from a much worse fate by fatally stabbing them.

"Hey Wait! You dropped something!"

Seth started running towards the last three of them and waving his hands in the air like a maniac. One of the three was already in the car and none of them were looking at him, "Wait! Wait!"

Finally, Blondie looked at him waving his arms like a moron and stopped getting into the car. Seth smiled in relief and ran up to her, "You totally dropped this."

"Tch. What? You aren't even holding anything weirdo." She sounded like such a nice person. Seth flicked his knife out and rammed it up through her jaw like a spike. The blonde's expression went from bitch to corpse as Seth withdrew his knife and dove into small hatchback. By now, everyone was fucking screaming as Seth clawed his way into the car. He was only halfway in and the driver had decided to peel out as soon as Seth aired out Blondie.

Seth was left hanging onto the second blonde's legs as he tripped over himself. The car spun around the entranceway and Seth finally lost his footing and toppled out of the car. His feet stumbled and dragged on the asphalt as the car continued to drive off. He got one good stab at the blonde's leg and kicked the door. Kicking off the door handle, he dug his shoulder into the Blonde's crotch and hiked up her skirt.

Blondie punched in the back of the head twice while he was orienting himself. Eventually, he was able to get his entire body into the car. Stuck in the floor board of the small hatchback he had a great look at Blondie's diaphanous lace panties. Hmmm, she shaved. He got a sloppy punch to the face for looking. Then Blondie got a knife to the throat for punching him. She mouthed out a pathetic little screech and Seth punched her in the chest for the blows to the head.

The screaming got even louder as the final girl, this one with dyed red hair started screaming at a new octave. The Douchebags up front were screaming now too, not paying attention to the road as they stared in horror at him. Seth turned his attention to the last little piggy and brought his knife up for a clean kill.

Red screamed and started clawing for her door handle. She managed to make it work just as Seth climbed over the blonde's still choking body and got his knife in her stomach. Red crumbled once the blow landed but Seth had to pull the blade out to ensure the kill. Red took the chance to try and jump out of the car. Seth lunged at her and caught her around the waist. They struggled for several moments while the boys continued to rain blows on him.

Seth finally got a good hit between her ribs and the girl stopped fighting as much. At this point, Seth was rubbing his face against her lower back as he stabbed at her. A garish pink flower was right next to his eye. "You have a tramp stamp in high school? I'm saving your future trailer trash life!"

The small hatchback slammed into a concrete divider stopping it short. Red broke her neck when it slammed into the door, the two guys in front where knocked unconscious by the force. Seth's hand twitched as lay in the floorboard of the wrecked car. He couldn't feel his legs but the rest of him was in severe agony.

"Fuck me."

XXX

"Hey Wait! You dropped something!"

Seth started running towards the last three of them and waving his hands in the air like a maniac. One of the three was already in the car and the other two weren't looking at him, "Wait! Wait!"

They didn't notice him and the last blonde kept giggling and got in the small hatchback. Seth cracked his back and did a few calf stretches. That one hurt.

9 down. 1 to go.

"What are you yelling about?" Skylar asked.

Seth glanced over at her. She was cuddled into some random ass hat.

Seth looked at the two of them and scowled. "Have some fucking imagination… cunt."

XXX

Seth wasn't actually enjoying his last couple of days before Christmas break. He missed the ancient world, he had after all, grew up there. Living here was just weird and meaningless, he had no purpose other than to gather up ten more people. He missed his sword most of all, using tree branches to smack a dirt pole wasn't as fun as using a dedicated training blade to spar with someone. The good thing was that he only had to find one more guy to take with him and he had a couple of days to pick. He decided to go with a guy, simply to make is less female dominated but who? Seth glanced over to the pack of freshmen, they had gathered into a clique at the other end of the courtyard. They were huddled against the cold and talked about stupid freshmen stuff incessantly. It could be good to have some new blood; after all he had barely been thirteen when he joined the game they could use some toughening up.

"What're you thinking about?" Seth looked over at his brother as the older Westland slid onto the park bench, "Gonna adopt a freshman?"

"You can adopt freshmen?"

"It's a rot-sea thing. The first sergeant wants us to mentor them or some shit."

Seth fidgeted with his switchblade. Did he really want his brother in The Game? He studied his brother as the older teen started to explain the ROTC thing. The Older Westland was a bastard who used to trick him into doing all sorts of horrible stuff - usually to Sean's benefit or morbid curiosity. One time, he convinced him to drink out of a tank of gasoline. He had told him it was special jug of kool-aid. Seth had spent the next week in a hospital. Sean had apologized and Seth had believed him. Long enough for Sean to show him how hot an engine burned. Actually, he kind of reminded him of their maternal grandmother when she used to shoplift and then lecture the security guards about Jesus. Seth took his hand out of his pockets. No way was he going to unleash his brother on a medieval world.

He'd be a fucking Emperor within a month. Once you got to know Sean you realized that he had some kind of massive secret. No matter how Sean tried to pretend that he was normal, once you knew him long enough, you started to get weird intuitions about him. He was good in the short term but the inconstancies always started to pile up and most of his girlfriend's realized that. Seth had seen his brother's porn stash, shit was still disturbing even after a few years in a war. Looking at him now, Seth could see the seeds of someone who could kill and enjoy it. _Really_ enjoy it. Combine that with his inherited manipulative traits, modern education and you have a horrible recipe for an ancient dictator. So Seth leaned back and waited for Sean to finish explaining.

The bell rang and Sean got up first, "I'll see you bro."

"See ya."

Seth started walking towards the freshmen and twirling his switchblade in his pocket. Which one was he gonna derail?

"Hey man!" someone put their hand on his shoulder, "I got some more information you might want."

It was the guy from the lunch incident. Did they usually hang out? Seth hadn't seen him in a while, "What do you got?"

The guy smiled, he was tall and lanky with horrible acne all over his face. But he had done right by Seth with that whole Skylar incident. Or tried. And it wasn't like he was going to find anybody else. One's as good as any.

Seth flicked out switchblade, he put his hand around the guy, "Lets walk."

Then he shoved the knife in his gut. The guy couldn't take a wound too good and soon he was crumpling at Seth's feet.

And that's a full boat.

XXX

Seth sat down on his floor and stared up at the ceiling fan lazily. Above him the moon was moving into the correct orbit and, with a deep breath, the air changed: became staler.

He opened his eyes and was looking up at a suit on a hanger.

It was black with a white undershirt and black tie; Seth stared up at it for a mere moment before stripping out of his clothes. Everything about the suit was expensive from material to the fit. It would be the perfect size and the cut allowed enough movement not to be too constricting. Even the shoes and underwear were expensive and comfortable. Yes, they even required you give up your underwear to advance to the next stage. Seth suited up and just as soon as he had tightened his tie, he was facing a fireplace. It was dark stone work just like his first time; the fire was warm and offset the slight chill in the hall. Seth glanced up at the ferocious bear head that was in mid-roar just above his head. It wasn't as impressive now; he turned around to get himself something to drink.

The hall was made of black stones that supported a vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows. The glass represented everything from Zeus to an armada of spaceships. There were no doors and only pieces of antique decor to decorate the cold walls including suits of armor. High-backed chairs flanked a table that hosted all sorts of delicacies from all walks of life. The position at its head, a much nicer chair then the others, was reserved for the Last Champion; the two positions to the immediate right and left for second and third place respectively. As the Last Champion, Seth was entitled to eat first. He had a feeling that the others wouldn't come into the room until he had gotten himself a plate. As he sat down with a full plate, the seats next to him were suddenly occupied. There was no flash, nothing to warn him, they just were.

A large black man was on his right, Tyson Kain, and a skinny Asian on his left, Adam Tsao, both dressed in the same suit as him. The Black man straightened his posture to sit rigidly in his seat while the Asian immediately slumped down. They both regained their senses and glared at Seth. Seth smiled at them and gave them a silent toast; he ripped it back and took a large gulp. It was a weak wine and went down surprisingly smooth.

"Here we go again?" Adam mumbled in Arabic.

Seth furrowed his eyebrows trying to decipher what he had said. He nodded.

Tyson continued to glare at Seth, Seth stared at him cattily and offered a jug of wine. Tyson raised his hand. The large man wanted to remain sober. He knew what was coming and it wouldn't do for him to drunk. The three stared at each other and let the memories of the last game play in their heads. Finally Adam got up and cut him off a slice of pork. He hadn't seen actual cooked pork since The Game started. The Muslims frowned on it and Adam had never spent much time in the crusader states. Tyson eventually joined him and started preparing a plate. They all knew that The Game would not be kind where it dumped you.

Seth had been dumped in the Constantinople sewers, Adam in the Sahara and Tyson in a Hokkaido blizzard. They were all ready to eat plentifully. Adam and Tyson all the more, their last memories were of dying and then being resurrected in the grey room. They decided to splurge on the more modern delicacies, something that the table allowed them to indulge. From pork to the finest wines; meats, fruits, vegetables and delicacies from around the world and throughout time; everything was on the long table. Once they had a plate ready they took their rightful seats and began to eat in silence.

The language barrier was keeping them from conversing. Amazing how fast one could lose a language. Tyson only remembered Japanese and had lost all trace of English despite his time in the Marine Corps. Adam had tried talking twice now but both times stopped short when he realized he had forgotten both Cantonese and English. It was all the same to Seth and the other two came to accept it. Adam had died during one of the Mamluks campaigns without another contestant anywhere near. Most of the fighting had been in the Near East area. Tyson was the lucky one, having started on the Japanese Archipelago. It allowed him to be the second place survivor with no kills. Seth had waged war against the remaining contestants.

When the massive clock behind Seth began to sound they all knew that the next stage of the feast was to start. As the thirteenth ring finally died, the seats were suddenly filled by ten very confused people. The shock of dying was weighing heavily on them but the changing rooms had a way of calming people down. It took a little ingenuity, but realizing that the only way out of the grey cell was by changing into the attire provided had a way of calming you down.

It also had a way of infuriating you because you had to change into an entirely new set of underwear as well but the mystic teleportation stifled any kind of rage. Each and every one of them shifted uncomfortably in their high-backed wooden chairs. Seth took another drink and wasn't inclined to actually explain The Game to them. A dull flash of pain made him blink. Then the pain erupted into head-splitting agony. Seth put his drink down and suffered through pain so excruciating he could barely talk. His instincts told him to speak. As soon as he resolved to follow this directive, the pain went away. The message was clear to him: do your job or feel the consequences.

Seth stood up and waited for the table to look at him.

"Hello." He managed to find the energy to smile. He didn't get any in return however, "You have been chosen to participate in a Game."

Seth glanced around trying to get their reactions; he was getting a lot of blank looks. Some of them wanted to jump up and get revenge but they stayed in their seats. All of them knew that something beyond their own understanding was going on. Seth clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Anyone seen Gantz?" No joy. "Battle Royale?" The blank looks he was getting dragged a sigh from him, "Hunger Games."

Light bulbs suddenly came on much to Seth's displeasure. He had only heard of the Hunger Games in passing, apparently it was the latest trend among teenage girls but it was ubiquitous enough that everyone knew the basic plot. Seth rolled his eyes, "Right. Well The Game is not so lenient. Our arena is not going to be some random patch of forest. No, our battleground will be an entire planet. There's no training montage here, this is the only preparation you're going to get."

Seth stood up so he could tower over everyone, "Since none of you actually watched Gantz, none you will find this particularly amusing." He started touring the room, "You're all dead now. Congratu-fucking-lations. Remember when I killed all of you?"

Some of them clearly did. Seth smiled, "But we're not through with you just yet."

Seth couldn't help but smile. The rage filled and broken looks on their faces only cemented it. He put his hand in his suit pocket and loosened his tie, "This isn't a team sport; the targets aren't onion aliens either: it's a free for all! The targets are everyone at this table, your classmates, friends, whatever."

Seth was swinging his arms wide now. He was started to enjoy his own presentation. He had been living in their world for three months and he was tired of it. It didn't feel real or important! These people knew nothing! They lived meaningless lives as caged sheep! Their little gossip and cliques were meaningless and in a few years they'd transfer their meaningless gossip and cliques to unfulfilling jobs and celebrity magazines. No excitement, just empty substitutes of dreams they would attain at some distant point in the future. The Game was horrible but it was life! Actual Life!

Seth knew this, the Game was a purpose and life with television and computers and celebrity gossip would forever deny them true life. It wasn't comfortable but the earlier times were so much more fulfilling. These children thought that school and society was constraining their freedom? Freedom to do what? Stare at a television? Do nothing in each other's company? The Game was true freedom, Seth had realized this.

He would teach them this.

Seth rounded the end of the table and started walking back to his seat. He pulled back his sleeve and revealed the newly charged numerals for 13 glowing on his skin, 'ιγ.' Even Seth was a little surprised; the numbers had changed from Arab-Hindu to Greek numerals. Perhaps that was because Seth had started the last game in Constantinople?

It baffled everyone else but Adam, who could vaguely recognize the byzantine script. Seth smiled and made sure everyone could see the mark, "this is 'iota gamma' it stands for the number thirteen. You may have noticed that there are thirteen people in this room."

The table, barring the three of them at the head, began counting for themselves. Seth took a drink of his wine; he was ready and the sooner he could introduce them to their new reality the better. After the slowest of them finally finished counting, their own forearms started to glow. The women pulled back their sleeves and the men ruined their jackets to find the new obtrusion. It wasn't hurting them; the veterans didn't even bother to look up from their meals.

"This is The Count. It represents how many people are remaining in The Game. If you lose your arm then it transfers to another spot on your body. It allows us to identify each other."

And place bounties but that was something they'd have to figure out on their own. Most of them ended up rubbing at their arms and realizing that it wasn't going to come off. It was like a luminescent tattoo.

"It also has a tracking capability," Seth continued, "All you have to do is concentrate on The Count and point it in a direction. The Count will glow brighter if it is pointed in the direction of a contestant. The trick is to concentrate – there's no secret, just concentrate."

An enterprising few actually followed his instructions and tested The Count by pointing at someone across the table. It did as it was meant too. Seth watched all of them for a moment before he started to circle the table.

"The Game is even simpler. There are no rules except," he leaned over Skylar and pilfered a red apple from the table. She looked good in the black dress that all of the females were wearing. Skylar pulled away from him, he smiled at her, "survive."

Seth took a bite of his apple and kept circling, "You can simply wait for the others to kill each other or die of natural causes," Seth pointed to Tyson, "The black guy did just that. He was hiding in Japan when I tracked him down."

Tyson couldn't understand Seth but he stared back at all of the new faces when they turned to stare at him. Tyson glared at Seth, the last time he had been sitting in this room the occupants had mostly been older: none of these kids looked older then college age. Tyson thought back to the table last time, what happened to the quiet chubby kid from last time he wondered. He didn't remember this asshole but could he…. Naw. No one changed that much.

Seth got to the foot of the table and the fireplace; there was no seat at the end so everyone could stare at him unimpeded. "The alternative is to actually hunt yourself. You might find you like the world and want to stay forever."

Seth gazed into the fireplace and took a bite of his apple, "However, someone will want to escape the Game and return to their lives, their families and they will be motivated enough to track you down and kill you."

Seth stared over his shoulder and took another gargantuan bite of the apple, "Of course, there's always _the reward_."

A few of the people piqued up at the mention, interested due to any number of motivations. Seth smirked at them, "I don't know who the power behind this game is. My forerunners simply called it 'The Light.' 'The Light' has the power to take us from our homes, our lives, and create entire worlds simply for this game. From space faring galaxies to the middle ages, 'The Light' represents an omnipotent power. If you win you get to return to your lives."

Seth studied all of their faces and took the last giant bite of his apple. He threw it into the fire and walked back to his seat, "So to recap. The food in front of you is for you to enjoy. It is your last meal before you have to kill each other in a strange world."

Seth took his seat, "Bon apatite."

Immediately, the first hand shot up. Seth picked up his fork and stabbed a slice of red meat, "You don't have to raise your hands. We're all adults here."

Autumn blushed and put her hand down, "So who are you?"

Seth finished chewing but then threw his arms wide, "I'm the Last Champion!"

Those that actually knew him personally, or thought they did, glanced among themselves. It was Autumn, who didn't actually hang around him, who asked the pertinent question, "Last Champion? So you've already won? Why are you here?"

Seth smiled and pointed his knife at her, "Good question. I won the last Game and these two gentlemen finished second and third, the black guy and the Asian, respectively. It takes more than one win to escape."

Autumn slumped into her seat. She would have to do this more than once? She didn't want to do this at all. What had she done to deserve this? She had never even stolen anything? Now she was expected to murder people in the Hunger Games?

Seth shook his head and watched the rest of the table pick at their newly gathered plates, "None of you want to know why you're here?"

They perked up at that. Seth smiled.

"Some of you I picked at random." He got an evil idea, "In fact, let's introduce ourselves. I'll tell you why I stabbed all of you and you can introduce yourselves."

Seth wiped some food off his chin and pointed at Skylar, "You dumped food on me my first day back."

Skylar slammed the table, "So you kidnap me and are forcing me to kill people!"

Seth finished chewing, "No, I stabbed you in the throat for that. Are you going to introduce yourself?"

Skylar glared at him and picked up her knife, "You're a fucking bastard!"

Seth picked up his own knife and threw it before she could react. The blade lodged itself in the chair behind her. He had been aiming for her neck.

"Do you think I'm still that chubby little 13 year old? HUH!" Seth stood up and started walking towards Skylar, "Let _me_ introduce _my_self!"

Skylar visibly deflated as Seth stalked towards her, her hand went lower and lower until she was barely clutching the knife. Seth recovered his knife from the chair and snarled at her. He started walking back to his chair, "My name is Seth Westland! When I was thirteen I stuck a gun in my mouth and pulled the fucking trigger!"

He pointed the knife at all of them individually, "I woke up in a little grey room and changed into some nice fucking clothes! Then I came here and got lectured about a 'Count' and A 'light' and A 'Game,' like all of you! Then I fought and killed hundreds of people across Asia! Hunting and surviving in a hell none of you imagine!"

He stopped and pointed the knife at all of them, "Yet! So don't take it fucking personally! Now Skylar, introduce yourself, _please_!"

Dennis stood up, "So now we have to go through what you went through?"

Seth glared at him, "Yes! You'll all be enlightened! But you know what Dennis? I actually like you! You'll like this world! No more fat chicks for you Dennis! You can have many wives as you fucking want! It all depends on what you can take! Skylar! In! tro! Duce! Your! Self!"

Dennis glared at him as Skylar took her seat, "My name is Skylar. Um. Um, that's it."

Seth beat on the table, "Was that so fucking hard? I killed the blond next to her because she helped Skylar throw food on me. Now they get to kill each other!"

The blond searched Skylar for emotional support rather than an answer. Seth narrowed his eyes. So was she some kid that looked up to Skylar?

"Tell us your age too," Seth paused, "Skylar's like 17 now."

The blond stood up, "My name is Linda. I'm 15."

"I'm 17 like he said," Skylar murmured. Seth dismissed her comment like batting away a fly.

"I killed the burly guy next to blond because he threatened me about something Skylar did. Do you see how bad she fucked you over?"

"My name is Ignacio. I'm 17 as well and I'm gonna kill you asshole." He started preaching to the rest of the table, "I'll get us_ all _out of this."

Seth laughed, "Yeah, yeah, shut up Naruto. I killed him with a chair. The next girl was being an annoying know-it-all so I shoved a knife in her eye."

Autumn clutched at her eyes as a phantom pain hit her, "I'm Autumn. I'm 18."

She sounded so weak in that moment that Seth shook his head. She'd grow a spine or die. He was betting on die. His next introduction was more restrained and controlled, "I killed Dennis because he was dating way under his potential."

Dennis closed his eyes, "My name is Dennis. I'm 17."

Seth actually smiled at Jade, "I killed her in exchange for three lives."

Jade answered in her shy little tone, "I'm, I'm Jade I'm 17 too."

Seth grinned and shook his head. She was seriously going to keep that up? He pointed to the first whore, "I killed those three in a spree. Blond 1 got knife through her jaw."

The blond glared at him, "My name is Kylie. 16."

"Blond 2 I actually don't remember, I stabbed her"

Blond 2 had been slumped in her seat when she had heard his introduction. She pushed a piece of meat around her plate, "Samantha, 16"

"And Red died in a car accident with me."

"Tracy, 15"

"And for the grand finally, I needed another guy. But I think you'll like it too."

"Jack, 18."

Seth clapped his hands, "Great. The black guy is Tyson Kain, he used to be a Samurai. The Asian is Adam Tsao, judging by how much pork he's eating, he fought in the crusades. Neither of them speak English no more. Least not good. Questions?"

No one was raised their hands this time.

The windows flashed and thunder rocked the building. As if on cue, the grandfather clock behind Seth starting chiming. The rest of the table stared bewildered at the sound but Seth, Collin and Tyson started stuffing their mouths with as much as they could eat. The rest of the table wasn't as prepared and stared at them bewildered. Seth came up faster than the other two and downed his glass of wine.

The clock rang for the thirteenth time. Seth toasted his empty glass to all of them, "Let the Game Begin."

XXXXX

**A.N.** "You have a tramp stamp in high school? I'm saving your trailer trash life!"

I think that's my favorite line ever.


End file.
